Audiobook Review: Whiskey Business by Avon Gale

Title: Whiskey Business
Author: Avon Gale
Narrator: Kirt Graves
Release Date: April 18, 2017
Category: Contemporary, States of Love
Length: 3 hours, 37 minutes

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Dreamspinner Press ~ Audible

Ryder Waites will do anything to keep the tiny town of Gallows Grove, Kentucky, from vanishing off the map—even sell his family’s whiskey recipe to Bluegrass Bourbon in Lexington. Hopeful that the larger company can provide necessary improvements to the distillery, Ryder aims ultimately to get Gallows Grove on the Bourbon Trail… and bring in much-needed tourism revenue. But to keep producing Hanged Man Bourbon in Gallows Grove, he’ll have to convince company liaison, unbearably stuffy and seriously hot Adam Keller, that he’s worth the investment.

Adam comes from an old-money family, but he’s determined to make his own way in the world. When he’s sent to Gallows Grove, he questions the life choices that led him to a rented room in a funeral home in a town full of macabre-themed businesses. And he doesn’t know what to make of Ryder, the descendant of bootleggers, who’s on a mission to save his strange town from extinction. When Adam and Ryder put aside their initial mistrust, the results are as smooth as good whiskey. But after Adam’s assignment ends, he’ll have to decide if small-town life and a future with Ryder are to his taste.

States of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the United States.

Ryder was born and raised in tiny Gallows Grove, Kentucky and though small, the town had a lot going for it, if only people knew about it. Ryder's family owns a distillery and Ryder is determined to use the distillery to make their whiskey better known and to get people to their town. After meeting with several different whiskey distributors, he finally decides to sell his family's whiskey recipe. As part of the deal, he wants the whiskey to continue to be made in their town and he wants Gallows Grove added to the Bourbon Trail. Bluegrass Bourbon agrees to the deal but they are sending in their employee, Adam Keller, to study the feasibility. Adam Keller comes from a well to do family, but wants to make a name for himself. Ryder decides to ignore the stuffiness and uptightness of Adam and instead show him the charm of their town before Adam's assignment ends.

I loved both Ryder and Adam's characters! Though Ryder was young, he knew what he wanted in life and it wasn't all about making things better for him. He wanted to take care of his town and the people. He was the only gay person in the town and unlike many small towns, the people were very accepting though not very PC about their acceptance. They were excited to experience all their first gay everything because of Ryder. And, when they figured out Adam was also gay, the town full of matchmakers could not have been more obvious in their hope for a gay wedding but more importantly, because they loved Ryder just as much as he loved them. Adam was so uptight, but he had the dirtiest, most filthy mouth and I loved it!

This story was about more than Ryder and Adam, and that's what made it even more special. This book was so full of rich details about Gallows Grove, its morbid name, detailed history and every puntastic business' names! Honestly, this is a level of details that I don't often see in novellas and it didn't come at the expense of the characters. Though this is a novella, it absolutely did not feel like one, the pages were packed full of story! This is an absolute must read!

The narrator of this story was Kirt Graves. I don't know this narrator, but if this wasn't his natural accent used in the storytelling, he did a fantastic job with it! Well, he did a fantastic job either way, but if you listen to this story, his accent was well done! This is a fun story with a gallows humor, and the narrator did it justice! He was well-paced, with no weird pausing and brought the characters and story to life! His voice had a great tempo and made this story just as fun to listen to as it was to read!

Overall: 4.5 Stars

Performance: 5 Stars

Story:4.5 Stars